Saint Augustine (354-430): On the Trinity.

A Very powerful case has been made out for the influence of the Platonism of Plotinus upon Saint Augustine. From the Manichaean simple solution of the problem of evil Augustine was delivered by reading the neo-Platonists and especially Plotinus. It was Plotinus who convinced him that God was a spirit, not a luminous body, and he always remained grateful for this deliverance from the crude fantasies of the Manichaeans. In the two years before his conversion when he was receiving a deeper penetration into Christianity through the sermons of St. Ambrose, he came to know of Plotinus in a very few treatises of the Enneads (certainly I, 6 ‘On the Beautiful’ and quite probably V, 1 ‘On the Three Chief Hypostases’) in the Latin translation of Marius Victorinus. St. Ambrose made a determined effort to apply the principles of Plotinus' philosophy to the clarification of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity as against the Arians. The results of such an attempt might not be theologically satisfying but they are interesting. This impact of the mind of Plotinus upon the mind of Augustine was a decisive one because Augustine found a very great area of agreement between the teaching of Plotinus and that of the Scriptures as expounded by St. Ambrose, above all the Gospel of St. John. It was their agreement that God is spirit and altogether immaterial, as Plotinus explains, which liberated him from the Manichaean materialism. Augustine thought that Plotinus' teaching about the Divine Mind was identical with that of St. John about the Divine Logos.

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The Trinitarian Theology of Augustine and His Debt to Plotinus

Harvard Theological Review ◽

10.1017/s0017816000027085 ◽

1960 ◽

Vol 53 (4) ◽

pp. 261-268 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Thomas A. Wassmer

Keyword(s):

Saint Augustine ◽

Problem Of Evil ◽

Simple Solution ◽

Latin Translation ◽

Christian Doctrine ◽

Great Area ◽

Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽

The Problem Of Evil ◽

The Mind ◽

The Trinity

A very powerful case has been made out for the influence of the Platonism of Plotinus upon Saint Augustine. From the Manichaean simple solution of the problem of evil Augustine was delivered by reading the Neo-Platonists and especially Plotinus. It was Plotinus who convinced him that God was a spirit, not a luminous body, and he always remained grateful for this deliverance from the crude fantasies of the Manichaeans. In the two years before his conversion when he was receiving a deeper penetration into Christianity through the sermons of St. Ambrose, he came to know of Plotinus in a very few treatises of the Enneads (certainly 1/6 “On the Beautiful” and quite probably V/1 “On the Three Chief Hypostases”) in the Latin translation of Marius Victorinus. St. Ambrose made a determined effort to apply the principles of Plotinus’ philosophy to the clarification of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity as against the Arians. The results of such an attempt might not be theologically satisfying but they are interesting. This impact of the mind of Plotinus upon the mind of Augustine was a decisive one because Augustine found a very great area of agreement between the teaching of Plotinus and that of the Scriptures as expounded by St. Ambrose, above all the Gospel of St. John.

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St Augustine’s Teaching on the Image of God in Man in the Mystery of Creation

Studia Theologica Varsaviensia ◽

10.21697/stv.7755 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 83-96

Author(s):

Piotr Kołacz

Keyword(s):

Saint Augustine ◽

Image Of God ◽

Strict Sense ◽

Holy Trinity ◽

The Subject ◽

Book Of Genesis ◽

God's Image ◽

The Image Of God ◽

The Trinity ◽

Human Family

ree comments on the Book of Genesis and the treatise On the Trinity enabledus to become acquainted with the Augustinian teaching on the image of Godin man in the mystery of Creation. anks to such a narrowing of the source material,we could more carefully and with greater prudence analyze the thoughtsof the Bishop of Hippo. We hope that in this way we managed to avoid the riskof superficiality and we took into account all the statements of Saint Augustineregarding the problem posed. Unfortunately, L. Krupa did not prevent himself from committing this mistakeN8. He did not take up the subject of human natureas an image of God, and completely passed over in silence the polemics of theBishop of Hippo with Gnostics, who regarded the human family as the imageof the Holy Trinity. Based on the analysis carried out, we could see that accordingto Saint Augustine’s image of God in man is to be sought in his soul, andin the strict sense, in this “part” of him, which is focused on the contemplationof eternal ideas. e essence of the image of God is expressed in the ability of thesoul to participate in God’s life. All this reflects, as Saint Augustine states, thetrue honour and dignity which man owes to his Creator. A characteristic featureof God’s image, even a basic one – in view of the Augustinian approach – is itstrinitarian character.Saint Augustine tried to seek the traces of the Holy Trinity everywhere.is significant task was the passion of his life. Finally, he has found the imageof the Holy Trinity in man. He tried to provide his readers with an insight intothis reality through the trinitarian analogies, the source of which he discoveredin the structure of the human soul. Considering the entirety of St. Augustine’steaching on the image of God in man in the mystery of Creation, the analogousimages of the Holy Trinity in the soul seem to be the most interesting for us.On the other hand, like Saint Augustine, however, we are aware of their greatlimitations. For what is created, even in its most beautiful representation, in comparisonwith the Creator will always be in a vulnerable and poor condition.

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The “Resurrection of the Flesh” according to Saint Augustine

Recoletos Multidisciplinary Research Journal ◽

10.32871/rmrj1604.01.09 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 127-143

Author(s):

Jose Rene Delariarte, OSA ◽

Keyword(s):

Saint Augustine

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Racine Lighting Beckett

Journal of Beckett Studies ◽

10.3366/jobs.2016.0172 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 25 (2) ◽

pp. 225-242

Author(s):

Cal Revely-Calder

Keyword(s):

Samuel Beckett ◽

Trinity College ◽

Trinity College Dublin ◽

The Trinity

Critics have recently begun to pay attention to the influence Jean Racine's plays had on the work of Samuel Beckett, noting his 1930–31 lectures at Trinity College Dublin, and echoes of Racine in early texts such as Murphy (1938). This essay suggests that as well as the Trinity lectures, Beckett's later re-reading of Racine (in 1956) can be seen as fundamentally influential on his drama. There are moments of direct allusion to Racine's work, as in Oh les beaux jours (1963), where the echoes are easily discernible; but I suggest that soon, in particular with Come and Go (1965), the characteristics of a distinctly Racinian stagecraft become more subtly apparent, in what Danièle de Ruyter has called ‘choix plus spécifiquement théâtraux’: pared-down lighting, carefully-crafted entries and exits, and visual tableaux made increasingly difficult to read. Through an account of Racine's dramaturgy, and the ways in which he structures bodily motion and theatrical talk, I suggest that Beckett's post-1956 drama can be better understood, as stage-spectacles, in the light of Racine's plays; both writers give us, in Myriam Jeantroux's phrase, the complicated spectacle of ‘un lieu à la fois désert et clôturé’. As spectators to Beckett's drama, by keeping Racine in mind we can come to understand better the limitations of that spectatorship, and how the later plays trouble our ability to see – and interpret – the figures that move before us.

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